Man gets probation for growing pot in Cuyahoga Valley National Park

by STeve wiandt | REPORTERPublished: February 3, 2013 12:00AM

Akron -- A Cleveland man was sentenced Jan. 31 to two years of community control, according to a spokesperson for the Summit County prosecutor, after he admitted growing marijuana in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

David A. Weir, 50, was sentenced in Summit County Court of Common Pleas by Judge Alison McCarty after he changed his plea last December, said April Wiesner, director of communications for Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh.

Weir pleaded guilty Dec. 6 to illegal cultivation of marijuana, a third-degree felony, according to court records. Visiting Judge Patricia A. Cosgrove found him guilty of that charge and dismissed a charge of possession of marijuana, also a third-degree felony. Both charges were in the indictment filed against Weir Oct. 10, court records show.

Cuyahoga Falls Police narcotics officers and National Park Service rangers arrested Weir Aug. 25 after more than 20 marijuana plants with an irrigation system were found by park rangers near Bath and Riverview roads. He was taken into custody near the growing operation.

Police estimate the marijuana had been growing there for at least three months. They did not have an estimate of the plants' value.